The Naked God

If you're this far into the series already, is anything I say really going to sway you either way? So I guess this will be targeted towards new readers who might be wondering if they should invest in reading thousands of pages if the later books stink to high heaven. Rest assured, dear reader, the first half of the last book keeps the same quality as the other books, I've found this to be almost conpulsive in making me keep turning pages, Hamilton as the rare ability to keep plots spinning and zips you through so many plots that while you can keep them straight (most of the time) you rarely get bored. Most of the plots are fairly crucial more or less to the final cascading plot, so moreso than others and they are more wildly split by distance and importance than the other books but we're still treated to lots of action and some philosophy, everyone is getting gtim as they move the players into the last stages of the battle, we're getting near do or die time folks. The intensity is almost unrelenting sometimes and some of the payoffs are better than others but Hamilton leavens it out with enough humor or horror to keep things interesting, his characters may not be the most well rounded people in existence but they are a fun bunch that you won't mind cozying up to for seven hundred pages (or more if you've been reading since the beginning). There's not much I can say without giving away the plot to the entire series, if I skimp too much it sounds like "Same old same old" I mean yes the possessed are still taking over people and those folks not possessed are trying to stop it and everyone's fighting or trying to find solutions or whatnot . . . but if I go into too much detail then I'll be giving away too much or it won't make any sense. So let me just say that if you're read this far you probably won't be disappointed and if you're thinking of starting, the quality of the series tends to remain high throughout, which is a rare occurrance these days. Hopefully the ending will be just as good, we'll see I guess.

After having bought the first book in the series (The Reality Dysfunction) by chance in a rush at the airport, I was enthralled with the depth of the characters and the well thought out sci-tech future. The author did an excellent job of setting the scene before introducing the fantasy component of the spirit realm. However, he very successfully resisted the temptation to err towards fantasy and stuck to his hard-core sci-fi guns with vigour. The second book (The Neutrino Alchemist) wavered slightly in the plot and I got the impression that he decided to expand his planned sequel into a trilogy. The third and emphatically final book was, in my opinion, the best of the three. The sense of excitement and drama that built steadily throughout the book culminates in a heady and mesmerising fashion which literally left me gasping for breath. By far, the best book I have read since Dune first appeared and re-defined the concept of the Space Opera with its ground breaking complexity and interwoven plot. I would definitely recommend reading the first two books before as too much scene setting would be lost.

Mankind's reign appears to be through when a tear between humanity's plane and the afterlife occurs. Seeing an opportunity, many souls rush across the hole to steal the bodies of living beings. None of the dead wants to linger in the nothingness that allowed them to see the active physical universe with nothing else in their dreadful hell. Several planets are yanked into the void of the dead in an attempt to bring some physical life to the environs. However, many of the dead refuses to return to hell. Al Capone and his Mafia grow stronger and the Quinn Dexter cult continues their march towards the end of humanity. On the other hand, the Liberation Army exorcises the dead souls from their host. Mankind's last hope resides in persuading a remote God to give up its eternal sleeping and intercede on their behalf. THE NAKED GOD is an incredible accomplishment that shows how thought provoking yet entertaining science fiction could be. The epic stimulating story line centers on an apocalyptic future in which humanity appears on the brink of being annihilated by its own dead. Though unable to figure out how the extraordinary Peter F. Hamilton kept track of everyone, the myriad of characters are all fully developed so that readers understand their motives. Not for readers who want a quick action-packed thriller, this novel and the previous two tales (see THE REALITY DYSFUNCTION and THE NEUTRONIUM ALCHEMIST) make up some of the best fiction to occur in many years.

I haven't even gotten a third of the way through the book yet and I am astounded. Having read the 5 other books in this series I was greatly anticipating The Naked God, and so far I have not been let down. My jaw dropped as some of the different plotlines from the rest of the series started to unfold in TNG in ways I never would have expected. The scale of the events in this series is enormous. Mr. Hamilton has come up with future tech that is brilliant. Well written space battles, and multiple interconnected plotlines are some of this book's advantages. One of the best, if not the best sci fi series I have ever read is looking like the final book will be quite a show stopper. I have recommended this series to all of my sfi fi fan friends.

I might be a little generouse in giving TNG 5 stars, but based on the past two books, I think I can give Hamilton a little slack. The series as a whole was jaw-dropping. I have no other way of describing it. I felt that TNG did get a little tedious at places, and the end was rushed. I felt that Hamilton could have used at least 100 pages just wrap it all up, instead of the 20 or so he used. His world-building was on a scale that I can only compare to Dune or The Hyperion Cantos. I was the perfect merging of space opera, nano-tech, VR, horror, fantasy, and 20 othere genres I can't even name. To be blunt, this series had it all, and TNG was a satisfying end to it all.